3100 ANDERSON AVE, MANHATTAN, KS 66503 SALES: (888) 421-1388 SERVICE: (888) 475-5608 PARTS: (366) 931-0437 THE AMERICAN FLAG IS NOT JUST A SYMBOL 30 VOLUME 26, NUMBER 23 An Award Winning Weekly Newspaper Thursday, November 2, 2017 What Enrollment Increase? School Year Enrollment School Year Enrollment School Year Enrollment School Year Enrollment (Kansas Education Data Reporting web site.) Editorial By Jon A. Brake Publisher One week before the City of Manhattan takes a bond issue to the voters, the Manhattan/Ogden USD 383 School District is dis- cussing potentially taking a $100 Million bond issue to the voters sometime in the future. According to the Manhattan Mercury: “The board is looking at a possible bond issue to alleviate crowding at the elementary level, as well as bringing elementary facilities up to standard with the rest of the school district.” The School District may have an elementary school crowding problem but they do not have a School District crowding problem. The graphic at the top shows the School District’s enrollment from 1999-2000 to 2016-2017. The District has 360 less students than they had twenty-five (25) years ago. And that is after the District built four new schools in 1994 and new gyms in 2009. In 2007 the School District had $11.8 million in cash at the end of the school year. In 2016 the School District had $21.3 million in cash at the end of the school year. (All figures come from the Kansas Education Data Reporting web site.) Debt is the Problem Look at the School Districts debt $99 million and they want to add another $100 million. Look at the City of Manhattan’s debt $280 million and the vote Tuesday will add another $25 million “Quality of Life” bond issue. Look at the Riley County debt $2.8 million. How is it that the County only has debt of $2.8 million? Because they held back on fixing County roads for 10-years and used that money to build the County Shops complex north of Manhattan. And then they went to the Voters of the County for a sales tax to fix the roads. Why is the City Vote this year? The City, County and School District know that you take a bond issue to the voter in off years (an off year is for local elections) This is part of a 1994 graphic that was used by the Man- shows the School attendance going from 6,790 to 7,738 because there will be a lower turn-out and a bond issue will pass hattan/Ogden USD 383 School Board to show voters in six-years. They built the schools to hold 9,000 and the easer. They do not want to take a bond issue during a national Gen- that they needed four new school buildings. The graphic attendance went down and is still down by 350. eral Election. (More voters) Briggs Briggs New Cars Used Cars 785-565-5530 NewsNews Manhattan Free Press Thursday, November 2, 2017 22 Experts: Kansas depends on Election Is Tuesday, Nov. 7th immigrant labor, foreign trade LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) _ Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Experts are saying the Kansas The administration is also try- economy is heavily dependent ing to secure funding for a bor- on global free trade and immi- der wall along the U.S.-Mexico grant labor at a time when both border and has clamped down are heated political issues. on allowing refugees to enter (Free Press Editor’s Note: the U.S. from other countries. It is not immigrant labor ``I think we have an over- that is the problem, it is “Il- abundance of nationalism,'' said legal” labor that should be Allie Devine, an attorney and shut down.) former Kansas secretary of The University of Kansas' In- agriculture under Republican stitute for Policy and Social Re- Gov. Bill Graves in the 1990s. search sponsored the annual ``I think that it is being driven Kansas Economic Policy Con- partially factually. Partially, it's ference on Thursday, the rallying the troops, so to speak.'' Lawrence Journal-World re- ported. Laurie Minard, vice presi- The dependence on immi- dent of human resources at grant labor and foreign trade is Olathe-based Garmin Interna- especially true in rural western tional, said the current U.S. po- Kansas, where the meatpacking litical climate is hard on her industry depends on immigrant business, which is dependent on labor and the entire agriculture access to an international work- industry generally depends on force. access to foreign markets, said Alexandre Skiba, a former eco- nomics professor at the univer- sity who now teaches at the University of Wyoming. ``Immigrants in rural areas replace the loss of labor due to the decline in native-born pop- ulation,'' he said, talking about the general population shift from rural to urban areas. Currently, the Trump admin- istration is working on renego- tiating the North American Free Doubt on harrowing tale of sea survival HONOLULU (AP) — Two views with the women revealed Hawaii women who say they that they had an EPIRB aboard were lost at sea on a sailboat for their boat but never turned it on. months never activated their Jennifer Appel confirmed in emergency beacon, the U.S. an interview Tuesday that they Coast Guard said, adding to a had the beacon and did not use growing list of inconsistencies it. “Our hull was solid, we were You can find back issues of the that cast doubt on their harrow- floating, we had food, we had ing tale of survival. water, and we had limited ma- Manhattan Free Press on line or The women previously told neuverable capacity,” Appel on Facebook. The Associated Press that they said in Japan, where the U.S. had radios, satellite phones, Navy took them after they were GPS and other emergency gear, rescued by a Navy ship. “All but they didn’t mention the those things did not say we are Emergency Position Indicating going to die. All that said, it’s Radio Beacon, or EPIRB. going to take us a whole lot A Coast Guard review of the longer to get where we’re incident and subsequent inter- going.” Manhattan Free Press Thursday, November 2, 2017 33 Paid Advertising Will You Be Voting November 7th? It is important that you do vote and it is important that you vote.... NO A No Vote Will Cut Sales Taxes In 2019 and prevent the rise in Property taxes to run and maintain the buildings in the future. Here is what part of the Manhattan Here is what part of the City Manhattan Ballot is Fieldhouse Final Report Said: having you voe for: CiCo Park Shall the following be adopted? A 160,000 square foot indoor recreation facility will be Shall the City of Manhattan, Kansas be authorized to: (a) impose a special twenty- built at Cieo Park. The facility will feature six basketball five one hundredths percent (.25%) citywide retailers’ sales tax (the “Quality of Life courts (cross-lined with twelve volleyball courts), an in- Sales Tax”), pursuant to the authority of K.S.A.12-187 et seq., to pay: the costs of the door synthetic turf field (300' x 200'), four batting construction of two approximately thirty-forty thousand square foot (30,000-40,000 sq. cages/pitching tunnels, a rock climbing wall, adventure el- ft.) multi-purpose gymnasiums/neighborhood centers, along with parking facilities and ements, children's play area, multipurpose rooms, conces- access roads, adjacent to Anthony and Eisenhower Middle Schools, upon land owned sions, and other ancillary amenities. In order to provide by Unified School District No. 383; and, the costs of the renovation of ball fields and space for this new facility, baseball fields and tennis courts tennis courts within CICO Park, including but not necessarily limited to, the creation of will be repurposed. multi-purpose softball and baseball fields with synthetic turf playing areas, and the es- tablishment of a 12-court tennis layout, along with all other necessary improvements, equipment and furnishings appurtenant thereto; and, the costs of the acquisition of nec- New Multi-Purpose Field Complex essary right-of-way for, and the design and construction of, new recreational trails and the improvement of existing recreational trails and all other necessary improvements East of Manhattan, along the US Route 24 corridor, a appurtenant thereto, (collectively, the “Projects”); and/or a portion of the debt service new state-of-the-art multi-purpose field complex will be requirements on any bonds issued in connection therewith, all at an estimated cost of developed. This new facility will become a premier tour- Thirty Million Dollars ($30,000,000), collection of the “Quality of Life Sales Tax” to nament destination serving long-field sports such as soccer, commence on the later date of the cessation of the .25% city wide retailers’ sales tax im- lacrosse, and football. The facility will feature twelve fully- plemented on October 1, 2009, or January 1, 2018, or as soon thereafter as permitted by lighted synthetic turf fields (360'x225') and three ancillary law, and shall expire ten (10) years after its commencement; and (b) ,issue general ob- buildings for concessions, restrooms, and first aid. Pending ligation bonds of the City in an amount not to exceed Thirty Million Dollars finalization, the land for this complex will be donated by a ($30,000,000) pursuant to the authority of K.S.A. 12-1736 et seq. (the "Bonds"), with private landowner for the purpose of developing a sports the proceeds of said Bonds to be used to finance the costs of designing and constructing and recreation facility.